Where to Start Day Trading – Top Rated Resources For Beginners:
New day traders often get started down the wrong path in search of magical indicators and foolproof systems. This typically results in following fake gurus, joining lousy chat rooms, and blindly copying trade alerts. But going this route almost always ends badly.
This is the main reason why I decided to put this list of resources together. I personally started down the wrong path at the beginning of my own trading journey, which resulted in over $20,000 worth of trading losses over the course of several years.
Eventually, the lessons I learned from strategy-hopping, blindly following guru alerts, and trading impulsively finally set in. But the process was much more financially and emotionally afflictive than it had to be. I should’ve just taken the proper path from the start.
It’s kind of ironic because we think all these shortcuts will make our path to profitability faster and easier. But in reality, our path actually becomes longer, harder, and more expensive. I wish I had the knowledge I have now so that I could’ve avoided these traps.
At the end of the day, the only path to consistent profitability in the markets is proper training in order to become self-sufficient. So the resources listed below are all focused on training, gaining experience, and building the skills to become a successful day trader.
Top 5 Resources to Help You Become a Consistently Profitable Day Trader:
If I had to start my trading journey over and could only pick 5 resources to help me grow, these would be the 5 I would choose:
#1 Thomas Kralow Trading Academy – Top Rated Learning Program For New Traders
Thomas Kralow is a day trading mentor that offers one of the best trading programs currently available online called University Grade Trading Education. With more than 200 video lessons, 140 quizzes, and 80 homework assignments, it’s much more immersive than the average trading course. These interactive tasks are critical because they allow students to turn information into actual skills through practical application. The goal is for every student to gain a well-rounded understanding of critical trading concepts such as indicators, key levels, risk management, tracking statistics, trading psychology, and more – and use that foundation to develop and refine their own strategies (or “personal trading algorithms” as Thomas Kralow calls them). Overall, this is a course focused on legitimate training and development – not spoon-feeding hot picks and alerts. The training process isn’t easy, but it’s the real and actually effective path to durable trading success.
- Thomas Kralow Review – What is Thomas Kralow Trading?
- Thomas Kralow – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- Why Students Pay Up to $20K For Thomas Kralow’s Program
- Link to All Articles Related to Thomas Kralow
#2 Trade With Profile – Top Rated Training Program For Developing Legitimate Edge
Trade With Profile is a skill building firm founded by Josh Schuler – a former institutional trader. There are a lot of trading courses/programs online that cover the basics of technical analysis (what a candlestick is, what a trend is, etc.) and share simple price patterns that supposedly work (double tops, head & shoulders, etc.) – and I’m not saying that this information isn’t useful – but in my opinion, it’s just not enough to transform people into consistently profitable, self-sufficient traders. There’s a lack of depth with most of these other courses in terms of true market understanding – and as a result, it’s difficult for developing traders to make sense of market movement and generate legitimate edge. Implementing auction market theory and profiling tools (volume profile and market profile) into my own trading approach, like Josh teaches at Trade With Profile, essentially lifted a fog from my market vision – and I think it can do the same for many others. Any other market framework will probably seem inadequate after going down this route.
- Trade With Profile Review – What is Trade With Profile?
- What is Trade With Profile – Best Trader Training Program?
- What is Auction Market Theory – Trading Value vs. Price
- Link to All Articles Related to Trade With Profile
#3 Topstep Trader – Top Rated Funded Trader Program
Topstep is a well-established funded trader program that provides a ton of support and an incredible opportunity to earn a five or six-figure trading account. I’m currently working my way through the Topstep Combine now to show how great of an opportunity this can be for Forex and Futures traders. The Combine is essentially a tryout for you to prove that you can properly manage risk and consistently generate profits. This all takes place within a simulated account based on live market data. If you follow the rules and hit the profit targets, then you pass and get funded. For those who don’t have the capital available to fund their own trading accounts, or would simply rather not risk their own money, this sort of program is an amazing opportunity. Having to follow the rules also helps instill good trading habits and develop disciplined traders. The Combine costs a bit of money to go through (which varies depending on the value of the funded account you’re striving for), but it’s extremely reasonable. This is one of the safest ways to become a professional-level trader.
- Topstep Trader Review – What Exactly is Topstep Trader?
- What is Topstep Futures – Earn a Funded Futures Account
- 5 Excellent Ways to Get Started With Topstep For Free
- Link to All Articles Related to Topstep
#4 TradingSim – Top Rated Market Simulator
TradingSim is market simulator that allows you to learn skills, gain experience, and test strategies in a risk-free environment. In my personal opinion, a trading simulator like this should be paired with a high-quality training program like Thomas Kralow or 2ndSkies Trading for maximum effectiveness. The bottom line is that theory can only take you so far. Merely learning various trading concepts won’t make you a consistently profitable trader. That knowledge has to be internalized and practically applied in live markets. This is where the real learning and skill-building takes place thanks to countless repetitions and actual market feedback. Most new traders skip the training and practice phase and end up paying a hefty price for it – typically losing thousands in the market by showing up untrained and unprepared. The best approach is to show consistent success in a simulator over the course of at least a few hundred trades before transitioning to real money.
- What is TradingSim.com? A Comprehensive TradingSim Review
- What is a Trading Simulator – Before You Risk Real Money
- What is a Statistical Edge in Trading – Expected Value Explained
- What is Training For Trading – Breakdown of Required Skills
#5 Trading Composure – Top Rated Trading Mindset/Psychology Blog
Trading Composure is a trading psychology blog run by Yvan Byeajee. In my opinion, following Yvan on Twitter and reading his weekly blog posts is a must for anybody who wants to become a more balanced and equanimous trader. When I was struggling to find consistency several years ago, the Trading Composure blog is what finally put me on the path forward. I credit Yvan’s books, website, courses, and overall insights and wisdom for pointing me in the right direction. I’m honestly not sure where I’d be in my trading career if I hadn’t come across his blog. I don’t even want to think about it because I probably would’ve kept trading impulsively and irrationally – and eventually quit. New traders don’t tend to understand how critically important developing the right trading mindset is , but it alone can be the difference between your ultimate success or failure. You’ll be surprised by the thoughts and emotions that pop up with real money on the line in live situations – and the erratic actions you might take because of those thoughts and emotions.
- Trading Composure Review – Learn the Importance of Mindfulness in Trading
- 3 Ways to Follow Yvan Byeajee at Trading Composure For Free
- What is Trading Composure? Acquire a Heightened Level of Trading Insight
- Link to All Articles Related to Trading Composure
It’s Possible to Go From New to Professional-Level Trader With Just These 5 Resources:
There are tons of trading resources available online that it can easily become overwhelming. But if I were starting over again, I would initially focus on just these five. This is all that’s necessary to learn, train, develop skills, and even earn a funded six-figure account.
I would start with learning/training programs like University Grade Trading Education and Profile Trading Development Pathway in order to build legitimate skills and edge – and then use those skills/edge to get funded through Topstep Futures.
It sounds so simple talking about it now, but it took me several years and several thousand dollars to realize the ideal path. Instead of wasting five years and over $20,000, I could’ve become a professional-level trader in 6-12 months with under $5,000.
I learned some hard lessons and eventually found my way, but it didn’t have to be as difficult as it was. So hopefully this list of resources helps you find the way much quicker than you would have otherwise. You can learn from my expensive mistakes instead of your own.
The most important thing to remember is that hard work and perseverance is required to succeed in trading. Being dependent on some self-proclaimed guru for hot picks or alerts just isn’t going to work. You have to train in order to become self-sufficient.
Please share your thoughts, feeling, and experiences with any of the resources listed in this post in the comments section below.
Check Out My Free Trading Success Framework Course
Written by Matt Thomas (@MattThomasTP)
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These seems like good programs for beginners. I have thought of entering the trading world for the longest time but I have been super busy and skeptical. I think I’m going to do it now. I am going to start trading so I will be sure to join one of these programs. Thank you for your help
Hi Daniel – it’s great to hear from you again.
From many of your past comments, it definitely seemed like you were against active trading due to the risk. So I think your careful approach will actually be a major benefit as you get started. Just make sure to follow the proper path and start with legitimate training and mentorship. From there, you can develop skills and prove your abilities to be profitable and manage risk in demo/simulated environments. Only once you show consistency in demo/sim should you start to scale up slowly into real money. Most people just jump into real money trading right off the bat – without any skills or experience – and it typically ends rather poorly. Avoid being one of those people. Take care!
Trading does gain a lot of interest from people who think you can make a quick buck, without the knowledge that you are sharing here. I have considered it before however find the thought quite scary. This does have a lot of interesting information and brilliant you have put a few choices down. Do you have any recommendations for anyone who is trying to start out with very little up front but wants to try and get into trading?
Thank you
Hi Ben – great question.
My recommendations for someone trying to get started with very little money would include pretty much all the programs I listed above. Trading Composure offers some premium courses, but you can get a lot out of his social media accounts and blog for free. TradingSim only costs about $25-50 per month depending on the subscription you choose (monthly or yearly).
But where the vast majority of resources should be going in the beginning is toward legitimate training and mentorship – like what Thomas Kralow and Chris Capre have to offer. The cost of their courses/programs can vary quite a bit depending on the packages you choose, but it’s possible to spend less than $1,000. The key is to put tons of time and effort not only into the act of trading, but also tracking your own trade data, and then reviewing/refining your approach.
When you gain a level of consistency, that’s when a program like Topstep can come into play. By passing one of their objective tryouts, you can earn a large five or six-figure trading account – so that you don’t have to trade with your own capital. This, in my opinion, is a great path for those both lacking the capital for a meaningful account or those who simply don’t want to risk their own money.
I recently wrote an article about how I would go about developing from a complete beginner to a professional-level trader if I had to start all over again from scratch here.